In a network control system (e.g., an Internet telephony control system), at least one switch (each switch controlling plural ports) is managed by at least one remote network operations console. As the number of switches and ports in the controlled network increases, the ability to remotely manage and/or monitor that network becomes an increasingly difficult challenge. The challenges posed by this problem are due to, among other things, (1) the space complexity of illustrating the status of the network in a visually compact area (e.g., on a screen) and (2) the limited amount of information that can be reliably communicated in a timely manner to a remote network operations console given bandwidth limitations.